I have been on a mini quest to try and find the two new M&M snack mixes and was just starting to give up when I spotted these while getting gas at a Shell station the other day. Normally I don’t go in to the store but something told me that I should and I am so glad I did. These were tucked up by the register and I only spotted them at the last second before paying for my coconut water and ranch Bugles. Wow what a mix – I bet my breath smelled great during the fitting that I was doing that evening. Sorry guys.

I wandered back into my office – wanting something chocolaty and remembered that I had these in my purse. YES. PURSE SNACKS. (there are also some other snacks in there that I intend on reviewing – what else do you use purses for?) I didn’t want to dump the snack mix on my desk like some sort of caveman so I cleared off my little cactus dish that I use to put miscellaneous items in like push pins, nails, razor blades, etc. and poured it in there – how fancy!

Fanciness aside I convinced myself that instead of acting like Cookie Monster from the Muppets and just dumping this handfuls at a time into my mouth that I would eat this mix one piece at a time. There is a mixture of crispy M&M’s and regular milk chocolate M&M’s which are both tasty. The little pretzel balls are really salty which is totally my jam. The almonds are lightly salty and make for a good addition to this mixture. Overall I would consider this the best part of trail mix. Take out the dumb raisins, take out the dumb peanuts and ding ding ding, you have the perfect mix. I am glad that I snagged a smaller trial size bag of this snack mix vs the larger feed bag size because I know I probably wouldn’t be able to stop myself from pouring a few more dishes.

I really liked this mix and I would totally buy it again. If I am able to find it in the larger sized bags, I will definitely have to portion it out into small containers to keep myself from demolishing the whole bag.

The other day I was at the gas station – I rarely go inside because I don’t really have a need to. Recently Taco Bell released some flavored sunflower seeds and there have been a few candy releases that I have not been able to get my meat hooks on yet so I thought I would venture inside and check it out.

Little did I know that social anxiety would kick into overdrive and I couldn’t leave the store unless I bought something because I was convinced that someone would think it was weird that I was scouring the aisles without buying anything. I grabbed a water, to which I cringed because I have been working very hard to use reusable containers for water and looked for some sort of snack that I hadn’t tried yet. My interest was piqued when I passed the Werther’s caramel corn, but kept looking in case something that I really wanted was tucked away on an end cap. I settled for the caramel corn, pumped my gas, and then went home.

Salty sweet snacks are my absolute favorite. If I had to choose one “genre” of snacks it would be anything that is salty sweet. Pretzels happen to also be some of my favorite things to snack on so adding it to caramel corn seemed like a pretty great addition. I rarely eat Cracker Jacks because a) popcorn husks in your teeth b) peanuts – so the prospect of swapping out the peanuts for pretzels? Sign me up!

OH and I also had this moment of thought while sitting on the couch – the song “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” there is a line that says “buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks…” AREN’T THERE ALREADY PEANUTS IN THE CRACKER JACKS?! Lets change it to nachos or a giant pretzel or something – way less redundant.

Werther’s Caramel Corn is by no means new but it was the first time I had tried it. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of pretzels from the get go. This bag was a smaller bag (which is fine by me, I don’t need to eat a family sized portion) and only had 3 pretzels in there. BOO. One great thing about the pretzels were that they acted as a caramel catcher during the manufacturing process and they were completely caked in caramel. YUM.

The popcorn was nice and airy, and completely coated in caramel. There were brief moments where you could taste the sea salt but it was not a prominent player in the flavor game. Overall I really enjoyed this mix and could see myself buying this again however next time I will buy a small bag of pretzels too and mix the two together.

One thing about constantly being on the chase for the next best snack food is that things often fall behind in your stash, ESPECIALLY if they are not memorable. I would post a picture of my current hoard, but truth be told, it is really embarrassing. Like REALLY embarrassing.

I totally forgot about the last two flavors of the #myoreocreation release until an ad to vote popped up on my Instagram yesterday. Ohhh yeahhhhhh… I have those Oreos sitting at home.

I haven’t had a soda since 2005. I quit cold turkey March 3rd of that year after convincing myself that I was going to get type 2 diabetes from the insane amount of delicious room temperature Dr. Pepper that I had been consuming. It was during the height of my MMO addiction (FFXI for those who care) and could drink down the stuff without realizing how much I was actually consuming because my mind was preoccupied with running through Vana’diel, Mithra tail wagging.

Cherry flavored anything for the most part elicits mental images of cough syrup. There is something about the flavor that just does not translate well unless they are fresh cherries. At what point did big pharma decide that grape and cherry were going to be the universal “fruit” flavors for medicine? Though on the flip side, sometimes when I am with someone that still drinks soda, they seem SO PUMPED to find that where ever we are carries Cherry _________. No thanks!

The one thing that I found exciting about these Oreos were that they brought back the popping candy. How do they get it into an item that contains moisture without them popping?! For those not familiar, Oreo introduced the popping candy last year with the Fireworks Oreos (which are back in stores this year) which I thought was a fun gimmick. These Oreos do suffer from one affliction that I know I have complained about a few times. WHY DON’T THEY SWIRL THE CREAM? I hate the half and half blob. While I am of the camp that twists open the Oreo and eats the cream, if you were to enjoy them the intended way you very well may only get half of the flavor. MIX THE TWO TOGETHER.

These smell like a crisp cherry cola, but the flavor… wow the flavor. Not great. Maybe it’s the artificial cherry, maybe it’s that they decided to go with a chocolate cookie instead of a golden cookie (the biggest atrocity here), but the flavors just do not jive. The popping candies are fun so if you’re into that sort of thing – you might like it. Do yourself a favor, buy these, buy a package of golden Oreos, scrape the cream off the Cherry Cola Oreo onto the golden Oreo and then enjoy. I am sure, nay POSITIVE, that this will be a way better tasting experience than what I had. Also are you supposed to dunk these in milk? Cherry Cola Milk. Yeah. No.

Overall these are not my favorite thing in the world. The chocolate cookie portion is the unforgivable sin in this mix that really ruins the whole thing. If you like cola flavored things you might like these, but just eat the cream and toss the cookie part.

While wandering the aisles of Safeway yesterday looking for anything new gracing their shelves, I was starting to become a little disheartened that I hadn’t found anything that piqued my interest. It wasn’t until I made my way over to the bakery tables that I spotted these little babies tucked into the corner. Holiday food already eh?

If you aren’t familiar with La Brea Bakery – you should be. They are and award winning bakery that got its start in the Los Angeles area of California. Known for selling out of their bread every day, they have since expanded their operations offering take and bake items through grocery stores as well as opening cafes across the country serving up their tasty chewy bread that is still made from the original starter.

Back to the holiday portion that I mentioned – this is about the time of year that I start taking bets of when the first holiday ad is going to pop up. Upon discovering these yesterday I immediately called my mom, overly excited. I mentioned how I thought it was a little strange that I found Holiday Stuffing flavored anything in stores already, but she mentioned that she thinks she might have seen an ad in a recent printing of an AARP magazine for something Christmas related. Hey companies, its only May – stop it with the Christmas creep.

One thing that I love at Thanksgiving is stuffing – and one thing that I love ANY time of the year is bread. Thanksgiving stuffing AND bread mixed together? SIGN ME UP. I guess one could argue that stuffing is made of bread but that’s neither here nor there.

My toaster is a bit temperamental and went a little scorchy on this roll, but this was not going to stop me from enjoying this tasty sage-y, celery-y, thyme-y, pepper-y cloud of heaven. I may or may not have tried to also cut my thumb off slicing this roll – yikes. Dressed this guy up with a little bit of butter and went in for the first bite.

This bread is deliciously soft an chewy. My mother would no doubt turn these into hockey pucks, but they are the perfect texture. However, despite the delicious taste, I was completely underwhelmed. Despite all the flavors boasted on the back of the package, I did not really taste much of them. I was expecting a robust mixture of flavors but was met with a whisper. Maybe if I bake them in a normal oven the flavors will develop a little more but I was disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the rolls are really good, but I was just expecting something more flavorful. I think I will whip up a small batch of cranberry jam, some instant potatoes (since I can make those in a really small batch) and some turkey to make myself a small Thanksgiving sandwich. Now I am drooling again.

Found at Safeway

]]>http://food.pyropixie.net/?feed=rss2&p=18870Planters Crunchers – Mesquite BBQhttp://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1836
http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1836#respondTue, 15 May 2018 17:00:50 +0000http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1836Good Morning Friends! I know I mentioned in a previous blog that I like to get out of my house and blog in other places so that it does not feel like a chore. Recently my local bagel hang out has been under remodel and they are finally open! So that is where this review is coming to you today. It’s amazing how you can build a stop into your routine and when it changes, it kind of throws things for a loop. Normally I don’t blog from Starbucks but I have been spending a bit of my time there tapping away on my keyboard and it just isn’t the same! VIVA LA BAGEL SHOP.

Anywho – Yesterday I reviewed the Hot and Spicy version of these Planters Crunchers Peanuts and if you haven’t read it yet, you should go check it out! Today I am giving the Mesquite BBQ flavor a shot. Normally BBQ flavored anything isn’t really my jam because I don’t really enjoy sweet flavored toppings on savory food and I don’t like to get messy when I eat. I know I have said this before, but if you really want to learn about all your food hang ups, start a food blog and you will quickly realize how neurotic you are when it comes to eating.

I mentioned in the previous blog that I was expecting the Hot and Spicy version to be more of a red coloring and I would say that if you said BBQ to me that I would expect them to be brown, and these definitely are more of a visual representation of what I think something BBQ flavored would look like. When I opened the bag I immediately picked up on the smell of a smoky flavor with a light twinge of sweetness.

With apprehension I popped a few in to my mouth. Much like the Hot and Spicy flavor, the shell immediately liberated itself from the peanut and became its own act. To my surprise the sweetness of this BBQ flavoring is really subtle. The smoky paprika spiciness as well as the tomato and onion flavoring were very noticeable. To me, I feel like the peanut portion worked much better with this flavor vs the Hot and Spicy.

I really liked this flavor, despite expecting not to. The mesquite crunchiness mixed with the peanut makes for a nice bite. I also could see these mixed into some sort of snack mix as well. Between the Hot and Spicy and this flavor, I would probably choose the Hot and Spicy if I chose to buy these again but if you’re a barbecue fan give these a shot, you just might like them.

I hope everyone had a stellar weekend. One really fun thing as a food blogger to do is walk up and down the aisles of stores looking for things you haven’t tried yet. Ultimately you find something here and there but sometimes you end up looking like a total weirdo. I was wandering Walmart recently looking for new things to nosh and stumbled across these hidden in the chip aisle of my local store. Despite their NEW across the top, I feel like these aren’t that new? I don’t know – a brief search of the internet only really told me that these might have come out around March? So newer – but not totally new.

I must admit – peanuts are not my favorite nuts. I enjoy them, but if I am feeling like snacking on nuts or seeds, I usually opt for almonds or cashews (cashews being my favorite). Plain peanuts are not my cup of tea at all, and if I do choose to have them I prefer them to be honey roasted.

So what exactly is the crunchy part on the outside? It doesn’t really crunch like a chip, more like maybe a bread coating? But when examining the ingredients looks like its a mixture of potato and rice with a bit of tapioca powder. When I opened the bag I was immediately greeted with spiciness. Wowee. I was also half expecting them to be more of a red color since that’s what I normally associate with something that is hot and spicy? But they are pretty light in color.

I popped a couple in my mouth, not really sure what to expect and was kind of surprised. The texture is a little strange as the crunchy coating breaks off the peanut before you actually make a full bite. I wish that the coating would have adheared to the peanut better because they become two separate entities very quickly. The one flavor that really stuck out to me of the flavoring was the vinegar. I personally shy away from hot sauces that taste really vinegar-y because I honestly just don’t enjoy the taste (Tabasco being a prime example of this), but despite being the star of the show for me, worked well with the other flavoring and spices.

Overall I thought these were pretty good. The spiciness was a good level, not burn your mouth off hot, and I could easily see them becoming addicting. I also really see these being a great staple to some sort of snack mix as the crunchy outside would lend itself to other crunchy counterparts as well as the more palate cleansing flavor of a peanut. The flavoring exists on the crunchy outer part but not on the peanut itself. I would probably buy these again, but in a smaller bag.

Upon doing a little looking there appears to be more flavors that I am aware of. Tomorrow I will have a review of the Mesquite BBQ flavor, but there are also salt and vinegar and cinnamon brown sugar versions floating around out there. If anyone happens to stumble across the cinnamon brown sugar, let a sister know where you spotted them as I would love to give them a try!

Found at Walmart

]]>http://food.pyropixie.net/?feed=rss2&p=18400Cheetos Stars – Summertime Ranchhttp://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1879
http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1879#respondSun, 13 May 2018 17:00:58 +0000http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1879Good Morning Friends and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there!

Usually I ramble a bit before getting into the review for the day, but one would say that I am slightly preturbed by these… chips? Crisps? POOFS? Whatever they should be called. So – let’s get down to it, shall we?

I bought these on a late night Walmart run recently and thought about them all day at work on Friday. Eh, let’s reel that in a little, I thought about the name all day on Friday. What exactly is Summertime Ranch? Is there a Wintertime Ranch? Is ranch best enjoyed in the summertime? So many questions. Also, my brain decided to totally botch the words to a Lana Del Rey song by inserting the name of these chips into the chorus, which has since been stuck in my head for two days now. You can preview the song here if you have not heard the song Summertime Sadness.

After a brief photo shoot of these stary crunch POOFS (you have to say poofs, POOFS. Don’t believe me? Just ask my friend Clare. I poured myself a small bowl, plopped down on the couch, before ultimately falling asleep there, and took an excited bite.

When I opened the bag, I was pummeled with intense ranch goodness. Now maybe I’m kind of an idiot here, but for some reason I expected these to be cheese flavored as well? I don’t know, cheesy ranch sounds good to me, so I was a bit surprised when I opened the bag and they were naked ranch stars.

Back to the couch goodness. I took one bite and…

THESE ARE RANCH DORITOS

This might be the shortest review in the history of this blog, but holy hell was I BEYOND disappointed. These are 100%, no question about it, Cool Ranch Dorito flavored. Womp Womp.

Overall, if you’re into Cool Ranch Dortios (which I am not because I WAY overdid it as a kid with those chips) and you’re into POOFS that ultimately get mashed into your teeth – these stars are for you. Not only was I disappointed by the lack of cheese, the lack of new ranch flavored goodness, I am now stuck with the most GIANT bag of these things – do birds like ranch? I’m kidding, don’t feed food like this to animals. Maybe I could crush them up and make them into some sort of breading for chicken strips or onion rings. But WOW. So bummed. I truly have the Summertime Sadness now.

Good Morning Friends! Anyone else drowning in their own body from allergy season? No? Just me? Great! I am truly miserable right now and feel like my head might just pop off. You know what might clear the sinuses? Some spicy chips!

Yesterday I talked about how I prefer Hot Taco Bell sauce on their culinary masterpieces so I was pretty excited that they decided to make that into a chip flavor.

Upon opening the bag I was immediately greeted with the strong smell of spicy. The chips did not look as covered in spices as the Mild chips did, but the deep red color of the chip said to me “I mean business”. I tried these chips two different times, the first time right after trying the Mild flavor and again the next day to confirm my thoughts about the flavors. I thought that perhaps I might have skewed the flavoring by eating something with a different flavor prior but I think I was able to get a good idea the first go around. Second time around just confirmed it for me.

Much like the Mild flavor – these chips are alright. They are nothing groundbreaking but don’t get me wrong, they are good. I would consider these kind of a slow burn hot. The more you eat, the hotter they get, causing you to eat more. Ever have that happen? Two other chip flavors come to mind when I think of the slow burn, Salsa Verde Doritos, and Spicy Szechuan Chex Mix (which I don’t think is even a thing anymore?). I don’t think I have ever demolished a bag of Chex Mix faster than the Szechuan flavor because of how spicy that stuff was.

The spiciness is a good level, not overpowering to it being the only flavor that you taste and it also has a subtle hint of smokiness. Much like the Mild flavor, I felt like these chips seemed “greasy” to me, even though they aren’t.

Overall, I think if I had to choose between the two flavors, I would choose the Mild chip flavor. While the Hot flavor is good, I felt like the overall flavor combination of the spices used in the Mild flavoring were more appealing. I also felt compelled to eat the whole bag of the Mild flavor because of the flavor, not because my mouth was on fire which I think would have been the case had I chosen to continue to eat the Hot flavor.

I think these would make really good chips in a Crunchwrap or something like that – bringing extra heat and a nice bit of crunch. Get on it Taco Bell! (just please think of me if you decide to roll with this idea – I could use a little kick back *wink* *wink*)

If you don’t know – Taco Bell recently came out with 3 flavors of tortilla chips. I have known about these for a hot minute and the anticipation of getting my hands on them was pretty major. I had heard rumblings that someone found them at 7.11 so I made my way to the one over by my house and was greeted with nothing even remotely close. Have you ever walked every inch of a small convenience store and feel weird getting nothing so you find something to buy that you don’t really need? That is exactly what happened – though what I purchased is somewhat new so that review will be up in the next couple of days.

I would call my enjoyment of Taco Bell a guilty pleasure, but I think its best labeled a regretful pleasure. Have you ever had anything off the Taco Bell menu without cheese? It’s not even worth it – so on the rare occasion I do partake, I go hard and get the cheese. And I ALWAYS regret it later. ALWAYS.

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If I am feeling saucy, I will go with hot. I enjoy spicy and hot foods but I like when the sauce adds to the flavor, not overpowers it for the sake of being hot. Ghost pepper stuff? Nah. Why obliterate my taste buds when I can get some heat and still taste the delicious meal I am eating. I once tried a tiny taste of a ghost pepper hot sauce while driving – the reaction nearly made my car become a compact if you get what I’m saying. I like one packet of sauce per item for maximum sauce coverage but not overload.

I was very surprised when I opened the bag of these chips. I was expecting the flavor coating to look some what like the flavor coating of a ranch Dorito. Why? I havn’t a clue, but that’s what my brain decided. These babies are COATED and I am here for it. Nothing more disappointing than an underflavored chip. I also immediately noticed the smell from the mixture of spices – very potent! Getting pumped! Visually good lookin’? CHECK. Smellin’ delicious? CHECK. Tasting great?! OKAY.

These chips tasted like something I have had before, and I cant’t quite put my finger on it. The chip is a bit dense – but nice and crunchy and would definitely hold up if you were working with a dip situation. I do however really like their tortilla chips that you can get at the restaurant so I kind of wished that they had used those for the chip base. The chip definitely encompasses a nice range of spices with a bit of heat, but nothing over the top hot. I was expecting these to be a little on the tame side but was pleasantly surprised how much I liked them. With the serving size being between those tiny lame bags of chips and a large bag, I could see my self accidentally killing a bag of these. My only real gripe is that the chip seems a little… greasy? You know how when you get tortilla chips that haven’t really got a proper toweling off and they get that darker greasy pseudo transparent look to them? That is definitely the vibe I am getting from these chips. While my fingers aren’t greasy, they just SEEM it.

I also had a small revelation while sitting here thinking about these chips – with Frito Lay and Taco Bell being BFFs, was the flavor that I felt so familiar with something that I have tasted on a Dorito before? How come they didn’t choose to make sauce packet flavored Doritos, then make a Doritos Locos Taco with the chip flavor?! One could argue that they have similar offerings already with their current line up, but I feel like this would be a marketing slam dunk! One thing I can definitely see myself doing is making nachos with these chips. The generous flavor coating would make for a delicious nacho-y experience.

Overall I thought these chips were good but did not knock my socks off. The flavor was evenly distributed on every chip and brought a good amount of flavor and heat to each bite. I would really love to see Taco Bell incorporate these into their every day menu items even if for a limited time offering. Check back tomorrow for the review of the Hot flavor!

Found at Target

]]>http://food.pyropixie.net/?feed=rss2&p=18650Entenmann’s Little Bites – Vanillahttp://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1844
http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1844#respondMon, 07 May 2018 17:00:32 +0000http://food.pyropixie.net/?p=1844Good Morning Friends! How is it Monday, yet again? I hope everyone had a great weekend – Mine was pretty low key. Did a little snack hunting, spent some time at work, worked on my fish tank, you know, the usual.

I saw these Little Bites pop up on an Instagram post and kind of scoffed when I saw what Entemann’s newest incarnation was. How have they not made vanilla already? I feel like its one of those flavors where if someone had asked you if you’ve had you’d say yes, but somehow the answer is no. I have enjoyed most of the flavors of the Little Bites offerings that I have tried, but I thought to myself, vanilla? That’s all you’ve got? How plain

Oh boy, where to start. These taste good. Let’s start there. They are moist and fluffy, delicious vanilla flavored cake bites. They could use a little frosting, but overall I enjoyed the taste. I feel like this flavor is totally phoned in though. There is nothing new and exciting about vanilla cake bites. Limited Edition? These should just be a staple flavor in their stable.

I think these would be perfect for the picky eater in your life or if you wanted to make some sort of over the top desert and wanted a little cake to go along with it. OH! A tasty milkshake with these on a skewer like a Bloody Mary. These are your run of the mill moist fluffy white cake and if that’s what floats your boat, you wont be disappointed.